


The Secret Service

by kimwonpil



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Bittersweet, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Lives, Song fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:48:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26970898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kimwonpil/pseuds/kimwonpil
Summary: A series of different lives and eras, following the interconnecting paths of the soulmates: Park Seonghwa and Kim Hongjoong.
Relationships: Kim Hongjoong/Park Seonghwa
Comments: 2
Kudos: 14





	The Secret Service

**Author's Note:**

> i'm 10/10 sure i have given up completely with having any sort of writing schedule or self-restraint when it comes to writing fic nowadays. so here we are with some seongjoong! it's based upon my favourite album the secret service by the hoosiers, which i actually referenced in another seonghwa-centric fic i have written on here. each chapter will be a snippet of a life that seonghwa has led and met hongjoong in, and each is based upon a song from the album.
> 
> i hope everyone enjoys reading this!! i'm really looking forward to this project and seeing how it grows as i continue to write. i hope you all have good and safe weeks, please take care of yourself and know that you're valid and beautiful people!

Pristine; Seonghwa's first life as a crown prince and Hongjoong as his royal attendant

_Airbrush_  
_I adjust_  
_So this is what love_  
_Looks like for us_

A single cherry blossom sapling was enough to alert Seonghwa of the arrival of spring. The season was his favourite, filled to the brim with festivals and food and a comfortable warmth that didn’t burn and simmer under his skin. With spring came a time that Seonghwa could enjoy, after a harsh winter and days spent cooped up by fires, reading under candlelight with nothing but fragile shawls wrapped around his shoulders to keep out the chill.

Spring also meant that Hongjoong was coming back. During the winter, the royal palace became quiet and still, so Hongjoong - his beloved attendant - went back to his home in a neighbouring mountain village, tucked between the folds of the valleys. But now that the snow had melted and Seonghwa’s parents ventured beyond the palace walls to bring in the new season, Hongjoong would return and with him he would bring Seonghwa’s happiness.

Many of his maids and helpers chided him for such thoughts, whispered during baths or when his clothes were being fitted. But Seonghwa had long since tuned out their ramblings. Hongjoong made him happy, he made his insides turn to cotton from just a mere smile or a crack of laughter and it was oh so beautiful, Hongjoong was beautiful.

That was why spring just so happened to be his least favourite season too.

Because Hongjoong was the one who captured his heart and Seonghwa knew that he could never have his in return.

There were rules and laws, ones that forbid Seonghwa from marrying someone below his status and he knew this, but something about Hongjoong made him forget. It was probably his voice that first caught Seonghwa’s attention, back when he had just turned eighteen and Hongjoong had just been starting out at his new job. The palace was large and the corridors confusing, Seonghwa acted more like Hongjoong’s attendant at first rather than the other way around.

All Hongjoong had done was call out his name when the prince had begun walking too fast to keep up with and it was enough for Seonghwa to stop in his tracks, breath falling short for a fleeting moment. Hongjoong’s voice was so light, smile wide when he eventually caught up to Seonghwa and the pair burst out into a fit of giggles, childish and playful. Their friendship had come along in leaps and bounds since then, but that feeling of comfort that Seonghwa felt around Hongjoong never faded.

Seonghwa was brought out of his head when a bell chimed in the distance, the one that signaled the opening of the palace gates and the prince rushed to his feet. The route to the entrance was long and complicated, Seonghwa hopped over the gates and rounded the gardens in an attempt to get there faster rather than traversing the hallways which would be awash with servants and guards at this hour.

He saw the horses first, pristine coats and perfect leather reins and saddles decorating their bodies. Seonghwa suddenly missed riding his own horse, but there was little time for that these days, maybe once the summer arrived he would get to take a trip on horseback out into the countryside? Hongjoong could also be convinced to join him, if he wooed the younger well enough.

“Prince Seonghwa, it’s so good to see you again!”

And then there was that voice, Seonghwa’s breath catching once again and making his heart flutter away. He felt like a moth, drawn to the flame that was Hongjoong, warm and cosy and brilliantly beautiful in the early morning sun.

“Hongjoong, I’m glad you’re back.” Seonghwa said, voice fragile and stretched out thin as he studied the boy before him. Like with the seasons, Hongjoong always changed, always grew more mature and handsome. Although, Seonghwa would tease him that his height stayed the same, that would earn him a glare and a whack to his arm that held no real malice.

Now, Hongjoong’s hair was longer, skillfully tied up with a black ribbon that Seonghwa knew had once been his. His robes were new and a deep ruby shade - Seonghwa’s family colour - the kingdom’s seal embroidered onto the sleeve. 

“I’m glad to be back too, although I think you might want to change your outfit before we get on with the day my prince.” Hongjoong chuckled, nodding his head down towards a large rip in Seonghwa’s robes, causing the prince to gasp and internally scold himself. He was reckless enough to run through the thorn covered garden and this was how the heavens repaid him, he supposed.

“Yes, we should probably do that.” Seonghwa murmured, pout forming on his lips as he started to trudge back towards his room, sensibly taking the route through the palace this time rather than the shortcut he’d taken earlier. Hongjoong wandered behind him, sword hanging around his waist by a tight belt, reminding Seonghwa that the younger man was strictly here to take care of him, despite what the prince so badly wanted.

But he couldn’t dwell on that; his feelings meant nothing to his parents if they were directed at Hongjoong. In fact, they often told him that it was better off never falling in love, it made the process of an arranged marriage easier in their eyes. Oh how badly they had failed at scaring away Seonghwa’s love for Hongjoong, they would probably scream at him if they ever found out.

“We’re here, after you my prince.” Hongjoong said quietly, not wishing to disturb the comfortable silence they had fallen into on the walk over, holding open the door for Seonghwa to walk through and making sure to shut it behind them. Even though spring was usually peaceful enough, intruders could strike when one was least expecting them to.

“Thank you Hongjoong.” Seonghwa hummed and made to take off his robes, not particularly minding that Hongjoong was in the room, they had become accustomed to seeing the other in less than professional situations and this was no exception. “Could you pass me—” Seonghwa was cut off before he could finish his request, Hongjoong extending his arm and handing the prince his clothes without a word. This had happened many times before - Hongjoong practically reading his mind, that is - but it still left a peculiar colour on Seonghwa’s cheeks and a squeezing feeling in his chest. Seonghwa felt special, for want of a better word, he wondered if Hongjoong was this charming with everyone else or if it was only the prince he reserved such behaviour for.

By the time Seonghwa had gotten himself dressed in a near identical pair of robes, the morning sun had settled far higher in the sky, the prince retying his hair with experienced hands and following the pale clouds across the sky with a wistful gaze. They were so free, Seonghwa was still trapped in a cage that felt worlds away from the rest of the kingdom. Worlds away from the life that Hongjoong lived.

“Have you had breakfast yet Seonghwa?” Hongjoong interrupted his passing thoughts and Seonghwa shook his head, taking to sitting on his bed and watching his attendant with wide eyes. There was a flurry of movement, Hongjoong taking his bag from the floor and undoing the knot before bringing out a box that Seonghwa had seen before.

“Is that your mother’s cooking?”

“Yes, she just packed some kimchi and rice but… It’s good.” Hongjoong chuckled and Seonghwa knew the look that flashed across his eyes. Shame. It was something that he had never been able to convince Hongjoong not to feel, despite repeatedly telling him that his upbringing and wealth was nothing to be frowned upon. Seonghwa hated that Hongjoong felt that way at all, one day, when he was king, he would be sure to change that.

“It’s always good, I wish I could meet her.” Seonghwa whispered, taking a bite of the rice and kimchi with a warm smile curling on his lips. It tasted amazing and Seonghwa knew that nothing would ever compare to the simplicity of a good meal like this, sat side by side with Hongjoong as the younger joined him on the end of the bed.

“I was told your schedule today on the way here. You’re meeting three different suitors from neighbouring kingdoms this week and they’re all staying over for the night, probably in separate rooms but they might try and weasel their way in here.” Hongjoong said, all with an air of indifference as he scoffed and rolled his eyes, causing Seonghwa to giggle. It was rather normal of them to joke about the princesses who came to stay, sure, some of them were nice and didn’t want to be pushed into marriage either, but most were willing to throw themselves at the first wealthy prince that came along. Seonghwa was usually the prince in question. His parents had been trying to get him wed for four years now, but each girl wasn’t to what he said was his standard, but deep down he knew that it was because they all paled in comparison to Hongjoong.

Sweet, quiet, funny Hongjoong, who played along with Seonghwa’s childish games and let him run around the palace garden with wonder-filled eyes. Seonghwa often felt like a fawn who had only just learned to walk, exploring the world as if he had never seen it before despite living in the palace all these years. Hongjoong had accepted all of that with grace, finding solace in Seonghwa’s quiet gasps whenever he would discover that they were having one of his favourite dishes for dinner, or laughing quietly to himself when the prince would go wide eyed at the baby birds in April. In fact, that time of year was not too far away, Seonghwa was looking forward to it greatly.

“Maybe we could play it like old times… Take them out to the maze in the far north wing and get them lost in there for a few hours so we can go and do something else.” Seonghwa giggled, tone ever light as his eyes crinkled shut just from smiling so widely. He didn’t see the way Hongjoong’s face fell a little, too wrapped up in his own merriment and scheming plans to realise what was going through his attendants head.

Hongjoong was an enigma sometimes, that much Seonghwa knew. Within his head lay smoke screens and mirrors and although Seonghwa found him great to get along with and loved him dearly, it felt as if there was something that he wasn’t getting. Something about Hongjoong that he was not privy to. However, in the mere moments between Seonghwa’s words and Hongjoong’s, the younger’s smile had returned in full force, the brief moment in which he had faltered long forgotten.

“That sounds like a plan, we could do some art, or maybe you could read to me?”

“Oh yes, we didn’t finish the last of the folk tales I found in the autumn.” Seonghwa recalled with a curt nod of his head, hearing someone knock on the door a moment later and shrinking a little, leaning in even closer to Hongjoong as he whispered a small: “Come in.”

It was his Mother who entered, Seonghwa sometimes wondered why she even bothered to knock at all - being the queen meant that she made the rules, not followed them - but he appreciated the respect to his privacy nonetheless. Seonghwa quickly stood, Hongjoong in tow as they both bowed in her direction, the queen returning the gesture as one of her own attendants stepped forward.

“Prince Seonghwa, your parents request your presence in the royal banquet hall, please follow.” The man by his mother’s side spoke in an almost drawling tone, ushering both him and Hongjoong out of the bedroom with haste as the queen walked in front of them with quick, dainty steps.

Time had escaped Seonghwa once again, the words he still desperately wanted to say to Hongjoong after four long years once again slipping away, for now at least. But he knew that even if he was to tell Hongjoong of his feelings, nothing would happen. Their affection for each other would be contained within fleeting glances and linked pinky fingers when not a soul was looking.

However there was always someone looking, Seonghwa could be sure of it. That was why his heart fell, when he came face to face with the first suitor he would be seeing that week, another girl to woo and then leave without any genuine connection on Seonghwa’s part.

His parents would be angry once again, but love was never easy and they would never understand. He had fallen for Hongjoong, there was no one else quite like him.

**Author's Note:**

> here's my twitter :D : [@acepiri](https://twitter.com/acepiri)  
> 


End file.
